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PRICE:
$35.00
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3-4 Weeks
01. Cleveland Francis - The Willow Tree
02. Cleveland Francis - Little Green Apples
03. Cleveland Francis - Early Morning Rain
04. Cleveland Francis - When I'm Sixty Four
05. Cleveland Francis - Hot Sun
06. Cleveland Francis - Hey Jude
07. Cleveland Francis - Just Think About It For A While
08. Cleveland Francis - Both Sides Now
09. Cleveland Francis - Rain
10. Cleveland Francis - Time
11. Cleveland Francis - Getting Ready For Tomorrow
12. Cleveland Francis - With God On Our Side
13. Cleveland Francis - What's Wrong With The World
14. Cleveland Francis - Ballad Of Martin Luther King
15. Cleveland Francis - Change
16. Cleveland Francis - It's Got To Get Better
17. Cleveland Francis - Hot Sun (demo)
18. Cleveland Francis - Early Morning Rain (demo)
19. Cleveland Francis - Summertime
20. Cleveland Francis - Just Think About It For A While (demo)
21. Cleveland Francis - The Willow Tree (demo)
ARTIST
TITLE
Beyond The Willow Tree
FORMAT
2LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
FORLP 005LP FORLP 005LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
7/1/2022

"Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis' body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped-down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late '60s Francis coined the term 'soulfolk', playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary. These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. 'If you were black, you played blues or soul music ... I wanted to play folk music,' Cleveland professed. Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis' entire 1970 self-released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970." "These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America." --Cleveland Francis